


Scars

by SnowQueenOfMyHeart



Series: Casselsa Collection [29]
Category: Frozen (Disney Movies), Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon)
Genre: Cassandra running away from her troubles again, Elsa is a blessing for her, F/F, Healing, Hurt/Comfort, Lesbian Cassandra (Disney: Tangled), Lesbian Elsa (Disney), Moondrop | Moonstone Opal (Disney), Nightmares, Post-Frozen 2 (2019)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-17
Updated: 2019-12-17
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:54:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,387
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21838564
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SnowQueenOfMyHeart/pseuds/SnowQueenOfMyHeart
Summary: Following the traumatic events surrounding the moonstone and Zhan Tiri, Cassandra finds herself in Ahtohallan trying to move beyond her past. Lucky for her, Elsa knows that struggle all too well. A brief one-shot with some minor gore and feels.
Relationships: Cassandra/Elsa (Disney: Tangled)
Series: Casselsa Collection [29]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1177631
Comments: 2
Kudos: 42





	Scars

_The pale moonlight illuminated the grisly sight before her. Corona in ruins, the town destroyed, the castle crumbling as giant black rocks tore into its walls. Rocks everywhere, sharp and shining brightly under the moon. The earth quivering as they rose and tore up everything in their path. And she... she stood atop it all, eyes wide as she looked upon her home._

_And suddenly, bright red rocks shot up around her. She spun around, helpless as the rocks multiplied, the heat radiating towards her like a raging inferno. And to her horror, the rocks began to show limp bodies upon their jagged peaks. She backed away and turned only to find more, the citizens, the servants, everyone..._

_The king and queen. Her father. Eugene._

_No, no... please..._

_The ominous glow from the rocks grew ever brighter, sensing her rising fear. Then a wisp of blonde hair appeared over her shoulder. When she saw it, she trembled and found it hard to breathe. Daring to look up at its owner, she turned her head to find..._

_Rapunzel. Impaled on the rock._

_She sprang away, collapsing to her knees as her hands ran through her hair, tears streaming down her pale face. But something warm was trickling down her face. She pulls her hands down and realized there was blood covering them._

_Not hers..._

* * *

Cassandra awoke with a strangled cry. She felt like she was drowning, but then remembered where she was. The pale blue light reflecting off the icy walls almost matched her own watery eyes and her hair. Squeezing them shut, she sank beneath the water, hoping the frigid temperature would take her once and for all. Of course it did not. Call it magic or a curse, she could not be hurt by the cold in this mythical place; its sole resident had ensured her of that.

After several seconds of holding her breath underwater, Cassandra came up for air, gasping and reaching out for the sides of her ice pool. Technically, it was a hole in the ice that was filled with water. Still, it had been made specially for her to use in times like this.

Her blackened hand trembled a bit, then stilled as she gripped the side. Leaning forward, the light of the glacier illuminated faint scars running along her back, marks of the suffering she had endured not too long ago. They paled in comparison to the blackish blue mark just over her heart, the place where a cursed stone once resided and almost consumed her.

Raising her good hand to that spot, she touched it tenderly as if she could still sense the moonstone opal. Feel its power coursing through her veins. She had kept the power of the stone in the end, but the artifact itself had been destroyed. Its last owner, however, did not heal as expected...

"Cassandra?"

She opened her eyes at the sound of her name. Afraid to look, she hesitated for a second or two. Then she turned her head slightly, but not enough to see the person addressing her.

"Did it happen again?"

A silence filled the cavernous room. Then...

"Yes."

Cassandra sounded so defeated, so small. She turned back and curled in on herself, with only her head remaining out of the water.

Elsa had seen this before, and not just in Cassandra. It was an all too familiar sight for the semi-divine woman. One that reminded her of just how mortal she was.

Walking over silently, she knelt beside the woman in the pool.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Cassandra did not move. This was to be expected.

If there was anyone who knew the importance of respecting personal space, it was Elsa. But she also knew very well that sometimes, you had to make small gestures to show that you were not alone. Waving her hands, she disappeared her outfit and slipped into the pool, sitting across from Cassandra. And waited.

After some time, Cassandra finally spoke.

"I saw them. Everyone in Corona. Dead, because of me. The rocks... they were everywhere. All the houses and the markets and the castle... destroyed. And I... I just looked on... unable to stop it. And then I saw the bodies... on the..."

Her breath hitched as the image replayed in her mind. She had shared similar nightmares before, but this one felt worse. Elsa just sat there, listening with a sorrowful expression on her face.

"...they were all dead. They just... hung on the rocks like dolls. And right before I *hic* I woke up... I saw *hic* I... it was..." she choked but fought to get it out, "...Ra... Rapunzel. And her... her blood... was on my hands!" Cassandra hugged herself tighter as the tears came again, her body wracking with sobs.

Elsa slowly waded over, kneeling before Cassandra as she placed a hand on her knee. Fortunately, Cassandra did not jerk away; that was an improvement.

"I know. Believe me, _I know_."

Such words could never have come from her friends back in Corona. No one knew the kind of agony Cassandra had endured, the things that haunted her ever since her decision to take the moonstone. No one understood how she looked at herself and saw a monster capable of such destruction, scorned and rejected by the world, cursed with a pathetic existence. And so she had run from all of that, finding herself out here in the far north, taken in by a spirit - or so she claimed - in a remote location that should have killed her from exposure to cold.

"I thought I would get better. I thought getting away from everything would allow me to move past all of this. I'm such a fool."

"And that's why I'm here for you, Cassandra," Elsa said pleadingly, leaning forward to take Cassandra's cheeks in her hands. Gently wiping away the tears with her thumbs, she continued, "I know what it's like to run from your problems, to think that you're so dangerous and unlovable that you are better off staying away from anyone who could get hurt. I did that once, and it nearly cost me my life. But even worse, it did nothing to protect my sister - the very reason I ran in the first place."

Cassandra looked into Elsa's eyes, only slightly comforted by this. "I did go back. I tried to set things right. But it wasn't enough."

Elsa's lips pressed together in a thin line as she stroked Cassandra's cheek. "At least you tried."

Raising her hand from the water, Cassandra looked at the blackened skin. Though her appendage had regained its strength, it seemed it would forever be darkened as a reminder of the pain her best friend had put her through. And a reminder of the cost of pushing her away. To her surprise, Elsa firmly grasped that hand with both of hers.

"I will not abandon you, Cassandra. I will not make you feel subservient to me. All I ask is that you try to not let your fear consume you." She paused before adding, "And that you have faith in me."

The resolve in her voice left Cassandra in awe. Such beauty matched by unconditional love and support - it was enough to make a normal person weak in the legs. But she was far from normal, and she had spent so long building up walls to keep others out for fear of being hurt again that to have someone be this close...

She wondered if she deserved any of it.

But as she gazed into Elsa's eyes - eyes full of love and conviction - she could only nod and say, "Okay."

They sat there in silence, Elsa still holding the burned hand.

"Has the water helped any?"

"Yes. My body doesn't feel like it's on fire, which is surprising given how vivid that dream was."

Elsa placed a soft kiss to the hand she held. Immediately, Cassandra felt a coolness radiate from the spot touch by her lips.

"I suppose Ahtohallan was the cure for your wounds after all," Elsa smiled softly.

"No," Cassandra replied, fingers curling around Elsa's hand. "It wasn't just that. It was something more."

And for the first time in a very long time, Cassandra felt a warmth spreading through her body that wasn't painful.


End file.
